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| Angel of death in the haunted forest at our local garden center. |
Do you believe in ghosts? A lot of people don't, maybe even most people. I dobelieve in ghosts, but I am not sure that they are the spirits of deceased humans. Instead, I think they might be the spirit beings that constantly patrol the earth mentioned in the beginning of the Book of Job.
Some animals and humans are more sensitive to the presence and activity of these beings than others. When I was a little girl lying in bed praying, I sometimes had an overwhelming sense of spirit all around me. One time, an inaudible voice urged me to open my eyes, but I was afraid of what I would see, so I kept them tightly shut. However, twice now as an adult, when I have been praying at night, my body in complete repose, I have opened my eyes and seen them moving about the room--a frightening and awesome thing. Both times that it happened I shut my eyes immediately and lay still for a long time with my heart pounding, thoroughly terrified.
My friend Sarah left a comment the other day explaining that she does not believe in ghosts, as she doesn't think time is linear; bumps in the night come from people living simultaneously in alternate time paths (I think this is what she meant--correct me if I'm wrong, Sarah).
I do believe in linear time because 1) it is my experience, and 2) everything dies. But time is a tricky concept: although we are bound to it (just as we are bound to physical space) we actually live only in the present moment--which is gone as soon as we become aware of it. The majority of what we call our life is actually memory (or future hope), and we all know how easily memory is corrupted. Reality then, as a matter of necessity, must refer to something outside of time, if it exists at all.
When I was a young mother, we moved away from family and friends. My husband traveled for his work more than fifty percent of the time, and I was pretty much alone in this new place. I kept busy exploring my surroundings and studying the Bible. When my babies went to bed, I spent long evenings pouring over the scriptures with my notebook in hand. In the preface of the book of Job, I learned that it is the oldest book in the Bible. That was very interesting to me. It seemed important that these were the first words that humans recorded about God. I took a long time working my way through Job, and came away believing that it is the key to understanding what life is all about. At the same time, I came across an oft forgotten, rather difficult verse in another part of the Bible that suddenly illumined things for me (1 Corinthians 11:10). My questions had an answer: Why do bad things happen to good people? Why does God allow suffering? Why are we here?
Because of the angels.
Angels are created spirit beings with freewill like humans. When Satan (an angel) rebelled against God and was cast out of heaven to earth, he took a third of the vast multitude of angels with him. (Revelation 12: 3-9) Angels, whether fallen or not, are not bound to time as we are. They are unseen Realities.
Christ--God Incarnate--came to save us all and make us eternal sons of the living God. As His children, we are called to live holy lives (Matthew 5:1-12). I do not fully understand it, but I think that our faith is an example to the angels. The angels are ever watching and witnessing our faith (or lack of it). It could be that we may be as great an influence on them as they are on us. Like humans, angels are free to do the will of God or not. The obedient ones protect us and assist us in doing God's will, and the fallen ones lead us into danger and impede us. Therefore, everything we do in this life matters: the way we act, the thoughts we think, whether we complain or smile, how we react to adversity and suffering, how we react to blessing is all important . . . because we are God's children, and the angels are watching.
You have an interesting perspective, and of course a Catholic one, which is always good to learn about. I myself didn't mean alternative time paths, I meant that I don't think time travels in a line. I think that linear concept is our human perception, based on our limited human experience. Time may be layered, or everything we do may take place in the blinking of an eye ... I don't know. It's very hard to explain something which one believes is probably beyond human understanding. The closest I can get is to say that perhaps time is holographic. I also don't believe in "death" as it's generally conceived (so to speak.) Matter changes form, but energy never stops. So our bodies change, becoming part of the earth or the air, but our spirits continue on living. I know Catholics have a different idea though.
ReplyDeleteI should clarify that I know "ghosts" exist, but I don't think they are the spirits of dead people. I *do* believe that people who have passed on can communicate with us. But I don't think they haunt houses in vaguely corporeal form. I think when we see "ghosts" we are seeing through the different angles of holographic time. (Lol, I accidentally typed angels! And yes, I 100% believe in angels.)
Sorry for rambling on in this fashion in your combox. I am sitting here surrounded by boxes and stacks of books, taking a tiny break, and your post intrigued me :-)
Please ramble in my combox whenever you wish; I love to read about your ideas! I found all your thoughts about time and ghosts fascinating. I'm not sure that time is real at all. It may be that everything happens in a moment, as you say. But, life on earth is bound to experiencing time in a linear way, and death poses a genuine problem to both alternate time theories and theories of evolution.
DeleteCatholics *do* believe that when someone dies their body goes back into the earth, while the spirit continues on living. However, the ultimate hope of our faith is in Christ's resurrection and ours; in other words, we believe that Christ will return, resurrect our bodies and make them fit for eternal life.
I hope the packing up is going well; I know how much work it is to move house. You are in my thoughts and prayers. ♥
I think time on earth is more cyclical than linear, but perhaps that is my pagan upbringing revealing itself :-) I'm very interested in your thoughts on death and the theory of evolution. (You know of course I don't subscribe to the latter. I am a complete kook.)
DeleteVery interesting and I love that you brought it up and shared your faith.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I hope I haven't scared some of my readers away. : )
DeleteWhile I have never witnessed them, I do have friends that have had encounters with ghosts and strange things happening. My daughter swears she saw a man in combat fatigues walking around our house when she was little. It kinda freaked me out!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing this! My son saw a "man" out on our porch roof when he was little (he was looking out the window). It was very freaky. I was in the room with him. He pointed and smiled and waved to the "man". I saw nothing. It still gives me chills to think of it!
DeleteMy parents claim to have had numerous supernatural experiences. I can't say that I have, but I do dream about people who have died quite a lot. I will have to share this with Mike and get his perspective.
ReplyDeleteThe minute I read this post, specifically -- However, twice now as an adult, when I have been praying at night, my body in complete repose, I have opened my eyes and seen them moving about the room--a frightening and awesome thing.-- I thought of a documentary I just watched on Netflix streaming called Wake Up. It's about a man who wakes up with the ability to see energies/spirits one day and his process of coming to terms with his gift. In one part of the film he is describing what he sees and his words are so close to yours. If you have Netflix, you might find it interesting.
ReplyDeleteI feel entirely too small and humble to have a specific theory on this topic. The most I can manage to say with conviction is that I believe there is more than "us."
I have had some odd experiences and often sense things (I love to tour historic houses and I'll often have a strong sense of what the guide talks about before the words are spoken; when my dad was ill I would sometimes see him laying on a gurney a few days before he went to the hospital or had an incident... stuff like that). I guess that's more about intuition though.
This is an interesting post. I enjoyed it very much.